Western Morning News (Saturday)
22 incidents at sea as Storm Evert strikes West
WINDS gusting close to 70mph across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in Storm Evert meant a busy time for rescuers.
RNLI volunteer crew from St Mary’s and Sennen Cove spent Thursday night helping to rescue people from some 22 vessels around the Isles of Scilly.
Pete Hicks, coxswain of St Mary’s RNLI lifeboat, said: “It was an incredibly busy night.
“We were afloat from about 11pm until around 3am... with a huge team effort we were able to successfully rescue everybody in difficulty.” Last night the storm was heading to eastern England.
HOLIDAYMAKERS across the Westcountry bore the brunt of Storm Evert, which lashed the region overnight Thursday and into yesterday bringing in 70mph gusts of wind and torrential rain.
Some not-so-happy campers had to abandon their tents to sleep in their cars while others packed up and went home before the worst of the weather hit.
An amber ‘danger to life’ warning for Cornwall was issued by the Met Office for Thursday night and yesterday morning. A wider yellow warning for wind covered the whole region.
Alice Cresswell, from London, holidaying in Perranporth, said: “It’s been a stressful night. We’ve been in the car all night, cold.”
She said the situation left her “shaking a lot” because they were not prepared for the weather conditions.
It was a busy Thursday night for the RNLI and coastguards. Five people were rescued by helicopter from vessels off the Isles of Scilly, one of 20 incidents around the islands, where winds topped 69mph.